Supercomputers and other large computer systems typically include a large number of processors that are operatively connected together by a high performance 3D interconnect system to provide very high computational performance for a wide variety of scientific, engineering and financial applications.
The processors are often housed in cabinets arranged in separate banks. The interconnect system accordingly has cables extending between the processor banks to operatively couple the banks together to provide the necessary computational power. If a task requires less computational power, then the processor banks can be “partitioned” to free up the unneeded processors for other tasks.
The ability to partition one bank of processors from another bank of processors enables supercomputers and other large computer systems to be efficiently scaled to meet particular needs. This allows operators of such systems to lease one bank of processors to one user for one task and another bank of processors to another user for another task. For example, a system can be partitioned so that one set of processors can perform classified computations while another set of processors performs unclassified computations. One objective in partitioning processors into distinct sets that simultaneously perform both classified and unclassified computations is to ensure the security of the set of processors performing the classified computations.
Software has been used to partition a first bank of processors from a second bank of processors in a large computer system by creating an electronic partition between the two processor banks. One shortcoming of this approach, however, is that it is possible for the electronic partition to be breached.
To avoid the risks associated with electronically partitioning a first bank of processors from a second bank of processors using software, other systems are partitioned by physically connecting/disconnecting the individual cables between processor banks. This can be a time-consuming process, however, because there are typically a large number of individual cables extending between adjacent processor banks, and each cable has a separate connector that must be individually connected/disconnected from the adjacent processor bank. Another concern of conventional systems for physically partitioning processors is that it is relatively easy to damage the small, delicate pins of the connectors at the ends of the cables. Moreover, as the density and performance of the processors increases, the cable connectors have a higher density of pins. The increase in pin density results in connectors that (a) have smaller and more delicate pins, (b) require more accuracy in aligning the pins with corresponding sockets, and (c) require more force to engage/disengage the connectors. The likelihood of damaging a connector pin during engagement accordingly increases as the number of processors increases.